@MOLLYBAZ

“These green beans are the perfect dinner party recipe because they’re great made ahead, or even the day before.”

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Prep Time

6 hours 15 minutes

Yield

4 servings

summary

“Green beans are fibrous and stringy when they’re raw, so they almost always benefit from some amount of cooking to help break that down and tenderize them. If you blanch them (a.k.a. boil them) in well-salted water for a few minutes, then immediately plunge them into an ice bath to stop the cooking, they end up tender and snappy but retain their bright green color. Triple win. It also definitely doesn’t hurt to then soak said beans in a zippy, bright, garlicky, Parmy vinaigrette and toss them with tons of chopped salted pistachios. Basically, I’m never eating a hot green bean again. I just don’t think they’re as delicious and refreshing as cold ones, and I’m trying to eat only delicious things in my life.”

ingredients

¾ cup roasted, salted pistachios
1½ pounds green beans, wax beans or romano beans
1 small garlic clove
2 lemons
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1½ ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about ½ cup)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

directions

Bring 4 quarts water and 1¾ cups salt (see Note) to a boil in a large pot.
While the water comes to a boil, do some prep: Finely chop the pistachios until all the pieces are about the size of a lentil. Trim the ends of the green beans.

Cook the beans

Once the water boils, stir in the beans and cook until just tender but not limp, 5 to 6 minutes.
While the beans cook, fill a large bowl with ice and water. Using a spider strainer or tongs, transfer the cooked beans to the ice bath to stop the cooking. Keep them in the ice bath until completely cool.

Make the dressing

Finely grate the garlic clove and the zest of 1 of the lemons into a medium bowl.
Cut the zested lemon and the second lemon in half and add the juice from both lemons to the bowl, whisking it all to combine. Slowly stream in the olive oil, whisking as you go.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese.
Season the dressing with salt and lots of pepper.
Stir in the chopped pistachios.

Drain and assemble

Drain the beans, then transfer them to a clean kitchen towel and pat dry.
Add the green beans to the bowl of dressing, tossing well to coat.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Serve them up!

notes

YES! THAT IS SO MUCH SALT! But the beans are spending only a couple of minutes in the boiling water, and it takes a LOT of salt to penetrate something as fibrous as a green bean. I have tested this outrageous amount of salt, and I promise you, your beans are going to be perfectly seasoned, NOT salty.

Taste one and see if it’s done—they shouldn’t be fibrous or tough to chew, but you also don’t want them to be totally lifeless and mushy. Find that happy, snappy medium.

You want them as dry as possible so as not to introduce any water into the dressing we just made, which will dilute the flavor.

This crunchy green beans recipe is best served very cold, so keep covered and refrigerated until serving if you’re making in advance.